In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) “employee” means any person employed in, or in connection with the work or activities of, any establishment to do any skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled, manual, supervisory, technical, clerical or any other kind of work or activities for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be expressed or implied, but does not include any such person-
(i) who is employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity; or
(ii) who, being employed in a supervisory capacity 1[draws wages exceeding fifteen thousand rupees per mensem] or exercises, either by the nature of the duties attached to the office or by reason of the powers vested to him, functions mainly of a managerial nature;
(b) “employer” means the owner of an establishment and includes any person entrusted with the supervision and control of employees in such establishment;
(c) “establishment” means any place where any industry, trade, business, undertaking, manufacture, occupation or service is carried on, and with respect to which the executive power of the State extends but does not include-
(i) any office or department of the Central or the State Government; or
(ii) a railway administration; or
(iii) any mine or oil-field; or
(iv) any major port; or
(v) any public sector undertaking of the Central Government.
1 Subs. By Act 10 of 2017, S. 2 (w.e.f 15th May, 2017) 2
Explanation.- For the purpose of this clause “any public sector undertaking of the Central Government” means an establishment owned, controlled or managed by-
(1) The Central Government or a department of the Central Government;
(2) a Government company as defined in section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956 (Central Act I of 1956) and owned or controlled by the Central Government;
(3) a Corporation established by or under a Central Act, which is owned, controlled or managed by the Central Government;
(d) “Government” means the State Government;
(e) “industry” means an industry as defined in section 2(j) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (Central Act XIV of 1947);
(f) “period of suspension” includes the period taken to obtain permission where such permission of the authority under sub-section (1) of section 33 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (Central Act XIV of 1947), is necessary before the employment of an employee is validly terminated;
(g) “suspension” means an interim decision of an employer as a result of which an employee is debarred temporarily from attending to his office and performing his functions in the establishment on the ground that-
(1) an enquiry into grave charges against him is contemplated or is pending or no final order after the completion of the enquiry has been passed;
or
(2) a complaint against him of any criminal offence is under investigation or trial or the complaint has not been finally disposed of;
(h) “wages” shall have the same meaning as in clause (rr) of section 2 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (Central Act XIV of 1947).
3. Payment of subsistence allowance- (1) An employee who is placed under suspension shall, during the period of such suspension, be entitled to receive payment from the employer as subsistence allowance, an amount equal to fifty percentum of the wages which the employee was drawing immediately before suspension, for the first ninety days reckoned from the date of such suspension:
Provided that where the period of suspension exceeds ninety days but does not exceed one-hundred and eighty days, the employee shall be entitled to receive, after the said period of ninety days, a subsistence allowance equal to seventy-five percentum of the wages which the employee was drawing immediately before his suspension:
Provided also that where the enquiry or criminal proceeding is prolonged beyond the period of ninety days for reasons directly attributable to the employee, the subsistence allowance shall, for the period exceeding ninety days, be reduced to fifty percentum of the wages, which the employee was drawing immediately before his suspension.
(2) An employee shall not be entitled to receive any subsistence allowance if he accepts any other employment during the period of his 3 suspension in any establishment other than the establishment where he had been working immediately before his suspension.
(3) An employee shall not, in any event, be liable to refund or forfeit any part of the subsistence allowance admissible to him under sub-section (1) :
Provided that where the employee is exonerated of the charge based on which his suspension was ordered, the subsistence allowance paid to him for any period shall be adjusted against the full wages admissible to him for the period of suspension.
(4) The subsistence allowance under sub-section (1) shall be paid by the employer to the employee on the date or dates on which the wages due to the employee, but for his suspension, would have become payable.